Methods and systems for protecting data integrity

Abstract

Disclosed implementations may include receiving a first communication comprising first content generated by a first user; identifying authentication metadata embedded within the first communication; receiving a second communication generated by a second user, wherein the second communication comprises second content and the authentication metadata; decoding the authentication metadata from the second communication; parsing the first content of the first communication and the second content of the second communication; determining that the first content is different than the second content based at least in part on the parsing; and generating an alteration notification based at least in part on the determining.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A method for enabling data integrity at an application server, comprising:
 receiving, by the application server, a first communication comprising first content generated by a first user; 
 identifying authentication metadata embedded within the first communication, the authentication metadata comprising an encrypted signature generated by encoding the authentication metadata using a private key of a public and private key pair, the private key belonging to the first user; 
 receiving, by the application server, a second communication generated by a second user, the second communication comprising second content and the authentication metadata; 
 determining if the authentication metadata from the second communication belongs to the first user by decoding, using the public key, the authentication metadata from the second communication and the authentication metadata from the first communication; 
 parsing, by the application server, the first content of the first communication and the second content of the second communication in response to determining that the authentication metadata from the second communication belongs to the first user; 
 comparing, by the application server, the first content with the second content; 
 determining that the first content is different than the second content based at least in part on the parsing and the comparing; and 
 based at least in part on the determining that the first content is different than the second content, sharing, on a social network system, a version of the second communication, the version comprising an alteration notification indicating that information of the second content has been altered. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 embedding, by the application server, the authentication metadata into the first communication. 
 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 1 , wherein identifying the authentication metadata comprises:
 decoding the authentication metadata in the received first communication. 
 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the authentication metadata comprises extensible metadata platform metadata. 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the authentication metadata comprises a text checksum value. 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the authentication metadata comprises location information associated with the first user. 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the authentication metadata embedded within the first communication indicates an identity of the first user. 
     
     
       8. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 causing the alteration notification to be displayed with the second communication. 
 
     
     
       9. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 preventing display of the second communication based at least in part on the determining that the first content is different than the second content. 
 
     
     
       10. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the second communication comprises an edited version of the first communication. 
     
     
       11. A system for enabling data integrity, the system comprising:
 one or more hardware processors and memory, the memory comprising computer program instructions that, when executed by the one or more hardware processors, cause the one or more hardware processors to perform: 
 receiving a first communication comprising first content generated by a first user; 
 identifying authentication metadata embedded within the first communication, the authentication metadata comprising an encrypted signature generated by encoding the authentication metadata using a private key of a public and private key pair, the private key belonging to the first user; 
 receiving a second communication generated by a second user, the second communication comprising second content and the authentication metadata; 
 determining if the authentication metadata from the second communication belongs to the first user by decoding, using the public key, the authentication metadata from the second communication and the authentication metadata from the first communication; 
 parsing the first content of the first communication and the second content of the second communication in response to determining that the authentication metadata from the second communication belongs to the first user; 
 comparing the first content with the second content; 
 determining that the first content is different than the second content based at least in part on the parsing and the comparing; and 
 based at least in part on the determining that the first content is different than the second content, sharing, on a social network system, a version of the second communication, the version comprising an alteration notification indicating that information of the second content has been altered. 
 
     
     
       12. The system of  claim 11 , further comprising computer program instructions to perform:
 embedding the authentication metadata into the first communication. 
 
     
     
       13. The system of  claim 11 , wherein the computer program instructions to perform identifying the authentication metadata comprise computer program instructions to perform:
 decoding the authentication metadata in the received first communication. 
 
     
     
       14. The system of  claim 11 , wherein the authentication metadata comprises extensible metadata platform metadata. 
     
     
       15. The system of  claim 11 , wherein the authentication metadata comprises a text checksum value. 
     
     
       16. The system of  claim 11 , wherein the authentication metadata comprises location information associated with the first user. 
     
     
       17. The system of  claim 11 , wherein the authentication metadata embedded within the first communication indicates an identity of the first user. 
     
     
       18. The system of  claim 11 , further comprising computer program instructions to perform:
 causing the alteration notification to be displayed with the second communication. 
 
     
     
       19. The system of  claim 11 , further comprising computer program instructions to perform:
 preventing display of the second communication based at least in part on the determining that the first content is different than the second content. 
 
     
     
       20. A computer program product comprising computer-readable program code to be executed by one or more processors when retrieved from a non-transitory computer-readable medium, the program code comprising instructions configured to cause:
 receiving a first communication comprising first content generated by a first user; 
 identifying authentication metadata embedded within the first communication, the authentication metadata comprising an encrypted signature generated by encoding the authentication metadata using a private key of a public and private key pair, the private key belonging to the first user; 
 receiving a second communication generated by a second user, the second communication comprising second content and the authentication metadata; 
 determining if the authentication metadata from the second communication belongs to the first user by decoding, using the public key, the authentication metadata from the second communication and the authentication metadata from the first communication; 
 parsing the first content of the first communication and the second content of the second communication in response to determining that the authentication metadata from the second communication belongs to the first user; 
 comparing the first content with the second content; 
 determining that the first content is different than the second content based at least in part on the parsing and the comparing; and 
 based at least in part on the determining that the first content is different than the second content, sharing, on a social network system, a version of the second communication, the version comprising an alteration notification indicating that information of the second content has been altered.